Finally we don’t have to wait until the third or fourth cup of coffee to see some beautiful sunrise light on the mountain tops! The reward for early morning exercise classes (Tai Chi on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and deep water aerobics on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) is that it’s getting light!! Huzzah!!! Moods are perking up all over town, especially when we got a nice dump of the white stuff and it was cold enough to stick around for a while. Snowmobiles on trailers were zipping out the road (they can run on the old logging roads), and cross country skis and snow shoes were finally getting some use.

The BEST treat was clear skies – beautiful stars at night and crystal blue in the daylight. After a long stretch of overcast and gloomy weather, it’s like the world is suddenly in color once again!

One morning the pre-dawn sky was a magical pastel pink just before the sunrise kissed the mountains. We paused our Tai Chi to watch – it was so beautiful. I was frustrated with no camera in hand, so the next morning I headed out before class to try and catch that light again. While I didn’t see that pastel sky, the morning light didn’t disappoint…

I zipped down to the South Harbor to catch a different angle…

…then looked to the north and spotted some light on the Devil’s Thumb (a 9000′ peak that marks part of the US-Canada border) so I zipped up to Hungry Point – at the confluence of Wrangell Narrows and Frederick Sound to catch the view.

Flocks of surf scoters, Barrow’s goldeneye, mergansers and long-tailed ducks were feeding in the shadow of the Coastal Mountains, and the light on the water was a coppery hue.

The light was fleeting… by the time I turned around and pointed my camera back down the Narrows towards town, the magic was gone. All I was left with was the usual beautiful view…

Eagles were perched on some of the light poles as I zoomed to class. Just another Petersburg day.